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Toyota reveals 2013 TS030 Hybrid for WEC

The 2013 Toyota TS030 gas-electric LMP1 car will be raced in the World Endurance Championship. Photo by Toyota Hybrid Racing

Toyota has unveiled a revised version of the successful TS030 Hybrid, which it will run in this year's World Endurance Championship.

The 2013 TS030 gas-electric LMP1 challenger is built around a new monocoque that Toyota says is an improvement upon last year's version. The 2012-spec version of the TS030, dubbed a laboratory car, was designed to run energy retrieval working off the front or, in the form that it races, the rear axle.

“We have redesigned the monocoque to optimize it without the front motor,” said Toyota Motorsport GmbH technical director Pascal Vasselon, whose organization has directed the Japanese manufacturers' return to international sports-car racing.

The new monocoque has allowed for a revised front-end aero treatment that replaces last year's Formula One-inspired aerodynamicsm, but Vasselon explained that the new front end was far from conventional.

“You cannot see the important things,” he said. “The concept of the splitter and everything underneath is very different and altogether much more efficient.”

The 2013 car is described by Vasselon as an “evolution of our initial concept.”

“The obvious target has been to fix all the little issues that we found during last season,” he said. “Last year's performance was very satisfying, and we felt we ticked most boxes, so there has been no concept change, just refinement and optimization of the 2012 car.”

In addition to the new aerodynamics at the front, the serviceability of the car in the event of a technical problem or accident has been improved, along with the cockpit ergonomics for the drivers.

The revised TS030 Hybrid underwent a shakedown earlier this month and is due to begin testing at Paul Ricard Circuit this week.

Toyota won three of the six WEC races it entered last year, and it is planning to field two cars for the full 2013 season with an unchanged lineup of drivers. Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima will drive the No. 7 car, while Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi will drive the No. 8.

The eight-race WEC, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, begins on April 15 at Silverstone in the U.K.